Composer

Matt’s compositional output has included works for orchestra, choir, musical theater, dance, jazz, electronic, and chamber music ensembles. He has scored four motion pictures, including “Diary of a City Priest” starring David Morse and featured at the Sundance Film Festival and on PBS, and “Two Plus One” by Emmy nominee Eugene Martin.

Matt has composed extensively for the PRISM Quartet, whose performances of his music have been broadcast by NPR, CBC, and Voice of America, and are featured on PRISM’s self-titled debut CD (1993, Koch International), as well as Real Standard Time (2000, innova), Dedication (2011, innova), and People’s Emergency Center (2014, innova). People’s Emergency Center, a double-CD of all original work by Matt, features guest artists Jason Moran, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Tim Ries, Ben Monder, Jay Anderson, and Bill Stewart, received 9 Stars and Best Jazz of 2014 honors from PopMatters, which described it as “too big to fail…one of the most unforgettable works of chamber music for years to come.” WRTI called the album “magic with swirling precision.” His compositions have been lauded by Classical Magazine as “gorgeous and ethereal” and by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “pulsing and wittily colored.”

Matt is the recipient of a 2016 Pew Fellowship. His work as a composer has also been supported by fellowships from the Independence Foundation and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Composers Forum, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and the Presser Foundation.

His training at the University of Michigan included studies with music theorists Ellwood Derr, William Rothstein, and Robert Hatten, and composers William Albright, William Bolcom, Frank Ticheli, Leslie Bassett, and Fred Lerdahl.

“My goal is to create, curate, and perform music that tests the hybridity of discreet musical idioms, and connects viscerally to listeners. As a composer, I’ve attempted to chart fresh musical territory by blurring stylistic boundaries, and am particularly interested in exploring the intersection of new forms of classical music and modern jazz. Many of my works feature jazz artists improvising over complex composed accompaniments with the intent of both improvisation and accompaniment evolving simultaneously on organic, parallel paths.”

Matt’s music is self-published by Grumblethorpe Publishing (BMI). Visit this page to purchase sheet music. For commissioning information, please contact Matt here.